My stay in Italy has been pretty much destroyed by the news that my dog, Ben, passed away last Saturday. Ben was the kindest, sweetest, most loving soul on the planet and the best friend anyone could want. RIP Benji

I'm on the Edge of Glory

It's genuinely impossible for me to explain how astounding these past almost-four weeks have been. I know I said I would try and update, but I have had almost no free time whatsoever; I am exhausted, but I have probably never been so happy. As cliched as it sounds, this experience has been entirely life-changing. I feel like a completely new person, in the most positive way imaginable.

I started off with three nights in Nice, during which I also visited Cannes (perfection) and Monaco-Monte-Carlo. Then I went to San Remo in Italy for an orientation week in preperation for teaching English to Italian children - it was intense and tiring and the most fun I have had in a long time. Then...then then then...I went to Milan. Central Milan. I lived in the centre of Milan with the most fabulous host family you can imagine. It was one of the best weeks of my life. After a week in Milan I came to Turin; I am now halfway through my second week here. Teaching Italian children is difficult, frustrating and at times feels almost impossible, but it is also the most rewarding, hilarious, fantastic thing I have ever done. I'm too tired to go into details about anything now, so until later...ciao.